Archive for
November 11th, 2009

Frustrated by the repeated questions about his future, LeBron James said Wednesday that he won’t talk about his possible free agency next summer until after this season.

The Cleveland star and reigning NBA MVP said before the Cavaliers’ game against Orlando that all the talk is “getting old.”

“This free agent talk is getting old. It’s getting old and I think I’m going to stop. Tonight will be the last time I answer any more free agent questions until the offseason,” James said.

“I think I owe it to myself, and I owe it to my teammates. It’s just getting old. I’m focusing on this season, and this is going to be a really good season for us. I don’t want anymore distractions for my teammates, for my organization, for my family. This will be the last time I answer a free agent question for the rest of the year.”

The official InsideHoops.com opinion is that it’s most likely LeBron winds up re-signing with the Cavs in 2010. Talk of him going to the Knicks, or maybe the Heat or elsewhere also could be legit. But there’s no reason to think LeBron knows for a fact where he’d go. It makes sense to wait until the time comes and see the roster situation on all these teams before having a sure opinion. He’d probably love to star in New York’s Madison Square Garden, but only if he’ll be surrounded by real ballers, not fill-in guys that drag him down.

Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has signed free agent guard Earl Boykins and waived C/F Paul Davis. Per team policy, terms of the contract were not released. We’ll post contract details this evening. It’s probably a very short, nonguaranteed deal.

“Earl is a proven veteran point guard who will provide us with leadership and stability off of the bench,” said Grunfeld.

Boykins has career averages of 9.4 points and 3.4 assists (2.8 to 1 assist to turnover ratio) in 520 career games over 10 NBA seasons. Undrafted out of Eastern Michigan, Boykins has also played for New Jersey, Cleveland, Orlando, L.A. Clippers, Golden State, Denver, Milwaukee and Charlotte. His best season as a professional came during the 2006-07 campaign when he averaged 14.6 points and 4.4 assists while shooting .898 (220-245) from the free throw line in 66 contests with Denver and Milwaukee. Boykins played for Virtus Bologna of the Italian A League in 2008-09.

Davis appeared in two games for Washington this season and averaged 2.5 points and 1.5 assists in 4.0 minutes per game.

InsideHoops.com editor says: Boykins is actually shorter than a regulation size NBA basketball. To check into a game he has to stand on top of the scorer’s table so referees even see that he’s there.

Eddy Curry might never be cut out for Mike D’Antoni’s open-floor style of basketball, but at least the Knick center finally looks like he can get up and down the court without any difficulty.

Looking nothing like the slow, burly player with a history of weight and conditioning problems, a streamlined Curry returned to practice Tuesday and took the first major step toward resurrecting his disappointing career.

From the looks of it, he’s considerably lighter than he was when he left the team with a knee injury on the first day of training camp. So how much weight did he lose while working out with the Knicks’ conditioning guru, Greg Brittenham?

“I didn’t keep track of it,” said Curry, who was believed to be around 320 pounds when he reported to camp and is now listed at 295. “I just know I look different. Everybody says I look different.”

Brian Lewis of the New York Post reports:

After a knee injury limited him to just 12 minutes last season, Curry’s weight ballooned to 365 pounds. He worked out away from the team over the summer, showed up weighing 317 pounds but having already tweaked his calf and hamstring, then tore his right plantaris muscle on his first day back.

Curry was banished from the team last month until he got down to a certain weight. The Knicks won’t say how much he lost, but assistant Greg Brittenham’s regimen clearly worked.

It’s common knowledge that the Knicks want to clear salary cap room, and trading Eddy Curry would greatly fasciliate that. But, even if they can’t deal him, if he’s actually in shape it’s possible he’ll emerge as a real basketball player again.

When at his best a few years ago, Curry wasn’t a great player but was very functional as a rugged inside scorer.

Rookie center Hasheem Thabeet suffered a ridgeline fracture in his mandible — a bone in his lower jaw — when he appeared to collide with Zach Randolph’s head going for a rebound late in the first quarter.

Play was stopped with 57.4 seconds remaining as Thabeet rolled around near the basket in obvious pain.

He will not make the trip to Houston for the team’s game against the Rockets tonight, but his status will be day-to-day after that.

Thabeet is off to a very quiet start in his rookie season, playing just 6.0 minutes per game and averaging 0.6 points and 1.6 rebounds. He’s extremely raw and may not be able to contribute much for most of the season and possibly beyond.

The Kings’ attendance is still lagging. After selling out only one of their first two home games as part of the Sellout 2009 initiative, the Kings had crowds of 11,751 and 10,760 in their following two home games. But Westphal said he’s confident the fans will come out if the team continues to compete as it has recently.

“This town is watching,” he said. “Whether this building is full yet or not, people are paying attention to see what we do. We can’t guarantee any records. We know how tough this league is. But we do have a lot of players with a lot of fight in them, and we’re doing that on purpose.”

The Kings have actually been worth watching lately and are playing better team basketball ever since Kevin Martin went out. That’s not a knock on Martin; he’s a super-scorer and the entire team has stepped up in his absence. They’re also playing better defense without him, though.